Voting for candidates for public office in the United States has largely been carried out by use of mechanical voting machines. Typically the voter moves a metal switch member to indicate that he desires to vote for a particular candidate. When he is concluded setting the switches, he moves a lever which makes a permanent record of his votes, resets the switches and opens a curtain which had provided privacy. In cases where the voter may only vote for a limited number of candidates for a particular office, mechanical interlock devices are provided to insure that the voter cannot set more than the correct number of switches. Means have also been provided to provide a mechanical indication that a "write-in" vote was desired by the voter and means for associating the written in vote with votes of a particular voter.
While such mechanical voting machines have not been without utility, there are several drawbacks to their use. Primary is that of cost; the mechanical machines now in use would be expensive to replace. Most of the mechanical machines now in use were manufactured several decades ago and are now substantially worn out and are not now being manufactured, such that there is a present need for a less expensive voting machine. Secondly, the prior art mechanical voting machines have been relatively complicated and expensive to set up for a particular election, and require substantial mechanical maintenance such as oiling, replacement of worn parts and the like. Furthermore, the prior art mechanical machines are heavy and cumbersome to move from a warehouse to a polling place in preparation for an election. Typically these machines require relatively complex multi-part paper ballots to be printed. Preparation of ballots is a very expensive and time consuming process in the prior art, according to which ballots are designed by hand and printed by conventional offset printing processes.
Further, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, it is always desirable to improve the security of the election process and provide improved accuracy and versatility in the electoral process.